This is overdue

[UhOh]

I've been a member here for a while. Have been to Moab a couple of times and jumped in with the TJ Fest crew. Has been a great experience and now have some great friends that I have wheeled with in different places. I've learned tons from the collective here and have grown in my jeep knowledge and abilities.
I started here with a 2006 TJ Rubicon - my second jeep, having had a very trashed CJ7 in the late 80's. The TJ is really my introduction to wheeling. Had a Teraflex long arm and 35's put on it and off I went! Damn has this been fun!

Naturally as I wandered deeper down the rabbit hole, I began to lust for an LJ. Really wanted to use more of my experience and understanding to build a nice and capable trail rig for the wheeling my wife and I enjoy ( Moab and a dream trip to Rubicon).
Late last summer, I found a nice looking candidate at (gasp) Cross Chrysler in Kentucky. After many emails, texts and negotiations, I had a very nice 2006 LJR shipped to my door!

 

[UhOh]

Its overdue that I post my build and experiences.

My thoughts with this LJR was 37's, long arm suspension, axles, appropriate armor and a stroker. I know a V8 swap is basically the same money, for whatever reason the plug and play simplicity of a stroker appeals to me.

So that's where I started.

 

[UhOh]

I'm not able to do a lot of the work myself (limited tools, time and frankly skills). So first order of business was to find a reputable, qualified and fair shop to work with me on this.
I live in rural Michigan and I spend my winters in Utah, so it seemed to me that I would have better opportunity to find a good shop in Utah.
After a bit of checking around, I began working with Just4Fun Motorsports in Lindon Utah. The fun was about to begin! We had several long distance phone conversations about what I was looking for and what they might be able to help me with. We started with a full on dream rig - holy crap that was crazy expensive! Was actually good to start there, it helped us to understand each other and how we might put together the rig I was hoping for.

 

[RocknLJ]

Nice looking LJR!

Come on you know you want to drop a Hemi in it

Will be watching your thread.

 

[E-Ticket]

I've seen this LR in action. It is a beauty and a beast! Looking forward to this build thread.

 

[UhOh]

So after considerable back and forth, our initial build direction became:
- Golen stroker which I would need to order and have delivered to Just4Fun. Will also replace the clutch and throw out bearing.
- Teraflex Dana 60 full float front and rear axles, trussed, 5.38 gearing, ARB lockers.
- Teraflex LCG Pro long arm and Falcon shocks
- Mickey Thompson 37's on Teraflex Nomad wheels
- PSC ram assist
- Tom Woods HD drives shafts
- 1.25" body lift
- on board ARB twin air compressor
- Genright 6" highline front fenders and rear fenders
- Genright boatside rockers
- Genright rear corner armor
- Teraflex gas tank skid plate and transmission and oil pan skid plate
- TBD front and rear bumper

All in all, a pretty good plan IMO. I have the Teraflex LCG Enduro on my TJ and it works really well. Definitely looking forward to the Pro version going forward!

Our plan was to order the parts during the Black Friday sales to take advantage of some savings. Build would commence in January when I was in Utah. No rush on the build as I didn't have plans for the Jeep until May for a shakedown trip to Moab.

 

[UhOh]

Of course the best laid plans always seem to change! In this case, I'd say for the better.

Since there was a bit of time before we would start ordering parts, I continued my research here about LJ builds. So many great ideas and really awesome rigs!

With the increased wheelbase of the LJR, I was becoming concerned about clearance issues with the long arm. Having wheeled with other LJs, it seemed that perhaps the midarm setup might be a good option.

Probably the best thing I did regarding this build was to reach out to @mrblaine. I learned a tremendous amount, and he really challenged me to think about the options for this build.

Needless to say, some things were about to change!

 

[UhOh]

Sometimes ya gotta really think about what you want and how to get there. Being challenged to do that really helps to give better direction as to how to proceed.

Blaine was awesome to work with. Definitely pushed me to be clear about what I was looking for.

I decided to swap out the long arm for a mid arm that Blaine had. He was very generous to be open to chat with the guys at Just4Fun if they had any questions regarding the install. Along with the mid arm we decided to outboard the shocks as well. Really excited about this!

I made a couple of other changes, based on reviews and experiences from other forum members:
- changed to the Flux sliders, corner armor, tailgate armor and rear valance
- decided on UCF aluminum front and rear bumpers

Purchased a few miscellaneous parts, ORO taillights and license plate/third brake light, Novak transfer case shifter kit, Morimoto LED headlights and Carbon brand winch. I know everyone loves Warn, I decided to take a flier on something different... specs on it seem good, has a following in Australia, so why not?

 

[UhOh]

October I drove the LJ from Michigan to my place in Utah. Pretty uneventful except that it just quit running a couple of times unexpectedly. I'd be just cruising along and it'd just turn off. Note to self, order new PCM from WranglerFix. Arrived regardless and stashed the jeep in my garage.

November was busy ordering parts, taking advantage of the Black Friday sales. Confirmed with Golen the engine specs and delivery timeframe. I also ordered the Rockhard cage and a SwayLok, both of which I figured I could install on my own when I get the jeep back to Michigan.

 

[UhOh]

January I took the LJ to Just4Fun.
First:

And:

The Dana 44 Rubicon axles with working factory locker pumps were pretty easy to sell. Was also able to sell the stock motor when it was pulled. The rest of the take off parts I left with the shop to do whatever they want with them (likely will just scrap unfortunately).

Once we started getting deeper into it, it was pretty amazing how clean and rust-free this LJ really is! Super lucky to find a super clean and stock LJR

 

[UhOh]

First, gotta test fit the front highlines

 

[UhOh]

And get the axles under it

 

[UhOh]

And the midarm and shocks fitted

 

[UhOh]

Trim the hood for the highlines and test fit the Flux armor and sliders.

When cycling the suspension, we found that the fixed reservoir Falcon shocks were interfering. So decided to go with Fox remote reservoir shocks (probably better in any event).
We also ditched the body lift pucks and welded in 1 1/4 inch lift brackets. Soo clean that way!

 

[UhOh]

Once everything was test fit, time to get everything painted and powder coated.

While that was being done, this happened:

 

[UhOh]

When we got the parts back, time to put it all together!

 

[UhOh]

The (so far) finished product!

A few pictures flexing

So stoked with this build!

And weight seems reasonable

Huge thanks to @mrblaine for his help with dialing the details in with me to make this a reality. And absolutely props to Just4Fun for totally killing it on the work to put it all together!

 

[UhOh]

First trip

Then off to Arizona with @E-Ticket, @Beestinger and @PurpleTJAZ

And winding up in Colorado with @inkedrose

 

[UhOh]

Since my return to Michigan, I've been able to install the SwayLok ( that grease they include is NASTY!), install Armorlite floor covering (awesome and burly!)!, Cobeau Trailcat seats with 4 point harnesses, test fit powdercoat and install the Rockhard cage, and (my absolute favorite) a custom hand throttle (courtesy of my great friend that owns an awesome bike shop).
I'm also adding a shelf enclosure with a slide out tray and drawer (backseat is bye-bye)

I removed the rollbar covers and am currently removing the zippers. I will modify the covers to fit around the added bars and will replace the zippers with velcro.

 

[inkedrose]

That LJ is such a nice rig. Was glad I got to show you around a little